A growing number of independent schools are offering “ghost” scholarships of
little or no financial value to pupils and their parents.

Several leading private schools award “honorary” scholarships that carry no
reduction in fees, while others provide token cash payments or free music
tuition. Critics says these schools are simply using scholarships as
marketing tools.

Many independent schools have gradually reduced the financial value of
scholarships, even though they were originally designed as a way of
educating children from poor families. Instead, more money is being
transferred into means-tested bursaries, especially since the Charities Act
of 2006 introduced a legal